Marte Gjefsen beats the odds to clinch Women's Skier X gold at Winter X Games Aspen 2012
To be a winner, one should learn to never give up regardless of how much the odds are against you. If there was anyone who thought that Norway’s Marte Gjefsen was going to suffer yet another Winter X disappointment because of not being 100 percent fit to
take on the intimidating field of Skier X-riders from around the world in Aspen Colorado, they could not have been more wrong. On the afternoon of Sunday, January 29, the 22-year-old racer stunned everyone at the Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, by
beating all odds to secure the top spot on the podium.
The road to Women’s Skier X Final was full of drama and suspense. During training on Thursday, Gjefsen ended up sustaining injurious following a gnarly crash. The injuries included a broken right wrist and torn left thumb ligament, making it next to impossible
for her to grip her poles. For someone who fought until the end at last year’s Winter X Games despite falling ill and spending most of her days in her room instead of on the hill, her latest injury was merely a complication. Rather than succumbing to it, she
decided to take her chances and hope for the best.
During the qualifications, she nearly found herself out of the final-six. However, a pile-up in the Semi-final resulted in four racers wiping out, allowing her to move from her sixth place to the first, consequently advancing through into Sunday’s Final.
Pitted against her compatriot and team-mate Hedda Berntsen, Australia’s Jenny Owens, France’s Marielle Berger, Canada’s Marielle Thompson and Swiss Sanna Luedi, Gjefsen indeed had a tough task in front of her. Instead of Owens, America’s Langely McNeal was
disqualified from the final after Berger protested against the elastic hair tie on the cuff of her pants that allegedly gave her an unfair aerodynamic advantage.
As the Final got underway, Gjefsen got off to a decent start, trailing right behind the 19-year-old Thompson. As the race progressed, she remained in close pursuit of her rival, waiting patiently for the latter to give her an opportunity to capitalise on.
Lady luck smiled on her yet again and just when Gjefsen thought that she would have to settle for runner-up place, Thompson went tumbling down in a pile of snow. Tumbling down, she almost took Gjefsen along with her, but the latter barely managed to regain
her balance and from there skied towards the finish line, clocking a time of 1 minute 26.877 seconds to claim her first gold medal.
“I was so sure I was going the same way as Marielle, but somehow I stayed on my skis and I just kept pushing and focused on coming down the course whole,” Gjefsen said.
To say that the Lillehammer-native’s luck had a lot to do with her success in Sunday’s Finals could hardly be considered an overstatement.
“I thought my chances were totally gone [after Thursday's high-speed crash],” Gjefsen said. “But I also knew I was good to glide. I won the qualification by almost a second [the day after her crash], so I knew I had some good chances to make some passes.
But no chance to do this. I'm just so happy.”
The 35-year-old Berntsen finished in second place, clocking a time of 1 minute 27.792 seconds, to join her team-mate on the podium. While she was not disappointed with winning silver, the Oslo-based cross-skier admitted that she was hoping to rise above
number two place in competitions.
The 33-year-old Owens finished in third place after clocking a time of 1 minute 29.055 seconds to walk away with bronze medal.
The 25-year-old Luedi had been impressive throughout the course of the contest, but was met by an unfortunate crash in the final, which resulted in the dislocation of her right shoulder.
To make a solid impact in Skier X, the athletes are expected to show a strong heart along with skills and wits. Gjefsen proved to everyone that she had plenty of all three. While her luck played a significant role in earning her success, the endurance and
perseverance shown by the Norwegian cross-skier could not be ignored.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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